We pave you over
without thought, squeeze
breath and water from you
rip you open recklessly
poison you, cut you,
clear you, use you

We pray to distant heavens
while our existence
is owed to you,
invisible you, underfoot
our faithful servant
until drought
and monocultures
and heat spins you
into a gray wind-ghost

You are:
elemental galaxy
organic universe
root-veined
gravity-bound
unappreciated home
of plants, insects, arachnids,
moles, voles, worms,
fungi and microbes
a miracle

Your dark webbed empire
sustains all life, all riches;
without you,
a planet dirt-poor

May we fall to our knees
in love, in wonder,
may we learn to pray
to your grandeur before
it is too late.